Considering EASA CAMO Maintenance Planning Engineering Function – Roles & Responsibilities

Introduction

The Continuous Airworthiness Management Organization “CAMO” is essentially responsible for 4 primary functions - Planning, Technical Records, Engineering, and Reliability. These groups work together to ensure that the Aircraft remain fully compliant with all requirements concerning the aircraft maintenance management and associated oversight.

Within the CAMO the Maintenance Planning, Technical Records, Engineering & Reliability groups work together to ensure that the aircraft remain fully compliant with all requirements concerning the aircraft maintenance management and associated oversight.

Within the CAMO department the Maintenance Planning Group has a range of responsibilities including:

Fixed Workload

- The delivery of the aircraft maintenance work package

- To ensure the aircraft remains fully compliant with the Maintenance Program

- Does not fluctuate rather it is based on the MPD

Variable Workload

- Driven by: ADs, Modifications (Mods), Service Bulletins (SBs) and Deferred Defects

- Very “Ad Hoc” in nature!

- The activities contribute an additional dimension which complicates the planning process

Together with the fixed workload there is an associated and variable work load driven by Airworthiness Directives (AD’s), Modifications (Mods), and Service Bulletins (SBs) and Deferred Defects.

Because of the “Ad Hoc” nature of the activities an additional dimension is added which complicates the planning process.

It becomes more challenging for the planning process both in terms of maintenance planning and production planning.

The variability of the work required by ad hoc task(s), can in some cases be very significant.

Result:

Repercussions which impact other elements of the maintenance activity.

How to deal with the Ad-hoc activities

Draw on additional expertise provided by Engineering or Technical Services departments.

Create a Support Group.

Typical Duties

- Review the content of the proposed activity

- Determine:

- The required tooling and equipment

- The various steps which have to be performed

How to deal with ADs

It is mandatory that we comply fully with the requirements of the directive.

Sometimes the compliance requires a detailed understanding of the component configuration within the aircraft system.

For this reason it is usual to involve a technical expert group.

The more detailed the planning, the more effective will be the performance of the task.

*** There is a trade off ***

The time we allow ourselves to analyze the task and prepare detailed accomplishment instructions, has to be weighed against:

- The size of the task and

- The number of times the task is going to be  performed across the fleet.

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